Tommy McIntyre's disappointment at Glasgow Cup defeat

Academy boss Tommy McIntyre was disappointed but philosophical after tonight's Glasgow Cup Final defeat to Rangers.

A late goal from Curtis Jones couldn't prevent the Ibrox kids from lifting the trophy at Clyde's Broadwood Stadium.

The young Celts never really did themselves justice with only Belfast bhoy Paul George catching the eye.

After the match McIntyre said: "We started the game well, for 25 minutes we dominated but we needed to get the first goal. Unfortunately we lost a sloppy goal which was annoying because we had worked a lot on defending set plays. 

"Sometimes that can be the difference in a match. That goal really effected us, some heads dropped and we started chasing the match. Then we lost another bad goal after that with a bit of hesitancy in the box.

"What really matters is what happens at both ends, the bit in the middle is important but you need to be able to defend your penalty box and to attack in the other box. I don't think that we did enough of that tonight."

Celtic started with nine of the side that had beaten Hearts 2-0 at u-19 level on Friday with Marcus Fraser and John Herron coming in to replace Stephen O'Donnell at right-back and Islam Feruz in midfield.

George was causing Rangers problems on the left flank but there wasn't much activity in the penalty box to trouble the Rangers defence who were well marshalled by the commanding Kamil Wiktorski.

With 27 minutes gone Rangers opened the scoring when an inswinging free kick from the left by Adam Hunter was left by everyone and allowed to creep into the net at Robbie Thomson's far post.

Nine minutes later Celtic were left with a mountain to climb when Kyle McAusland caused panic in the Celtic defence before netting from 12 yards out.

Celtic failed to function properly as a team with the midfield unable to link effectively with the strikers and the back four looking uncomfortable under pressure.

There was no real pressure put on the Rangers goal until the double substitution of Mo Yaqub and Ryan Hutchison for Marcus Fraser and Callum McGregor.

Yaqub went to left-back with Filip Twardzik pushed into midfield where he had a greater influence on the game as Celtic adopted a more direct approach.

Filip Twardzik should have found the net from a cut-back by George in the 79th minute but sent his shot over the bar with brother Patrik striking the bar with an opportunist 25 yarder five minutes later.

Jones gave Celtic hope of forcing the game into extra time when he scored from close range after Rangers 'keeper Blair Currie parried a shot from Liam Madden but there was to be no further scoring.
McIntyre added: "We'll learn from this, we'll pick a lot from the match. The coaching staff and players will learn from this.

"The players will be hurt and disappointed. We'll dissect the match, look to see how we can improve and try to make sure that they do learn the lessons.

"They are young kids and you sometimes forget how young they are, the criticism has to be constructive. With every success you have to experience certain failures and they can learn from this."

CELTIC: Robbie Thomson; Marcus Fraser (Mo Yaqub 74), John Young, Curtis Jones, F Twardzik; John Herron, Liam Madden, Callum McGregor ( Ryan Hutchison 74); P Twardzik, Liam Gormley, Paul George SUBS James Wightman, Michael Fulton, Michael Devlin, Joe Chalmers, Jordan Moffat  

Video Celts is on the move to HERE

Tommy McIntyre's twin development aims

Tommy McIntyre believes that player development and winning honours go hand in hand at Celtic.

With his title of Head of Professional Academy the former Hibs and Aberdeen defender co-ordinates the Celtic's u-17 and u-19 sides coached by Miodrag Krivokapic and Stevie Frail.

Producing first team players is the target but success is also expected with the resourses that are committed into player development.

Tomorrow night at Hampden Celtic's u-19 side are looking to add the SFA Youth Cup to the SPL title that they won at the weekend with snap judgements likely to be made on a season's work.

Handling pressure and the demands of the big occassion are an essential element in player development with the game full of training ground wonderkids that couldn't translate their skills into a competitive environment.

With almost a full season in the job behind him McIntyre is a firm believer that a winning, successful team is essential if players are to realise their full potential.

"By developing young players you should also have successful teams," McIntyre argued. "Success breeds success, there is no one solution for everything, there's a blend to be achieved between having success and creating momentum in players development.

"Primarily we are here to develop young players but at any level there are lessons to be learned about winning trophies.

"We know that all of our players have talent- they wouldn't be at Celtic if they didn't but talent isn't enough.

"They need to have hunger and desire and we'll be looking to see that at Hampden on Wednesday."

On the back of The McLeish Report the Hampden clash between Celtic and Rangers will come in for additional attention and scrutiny.

McIntyre and his coaches are precise in their preparations for every match but know that ultimately it's up to players to perform on the pitch.

In the last two months Celtic and Rangers have traded wins at Barrafield and Murray Park to give their Hampden clash an extra edge.

Looking towards tomorrow's match McIntyre added: "We have prepared the players well and want them to enjoy the occasion of playing at Hampden in a cup final.

"We want them to display the talent that they have, to play their game and keep things simple.

"As young players we recognise that they will make mistakes but we hope that they can do themselves justice.

"Even senior players get nervous at cup finals but hopefully we can settle quickly and enjoy a great occasion.

"They've worked hard all season and it would be great for them to play to their potential and pick up a trophy for their efforts."

McIntyre's plans coming to fruition

Tommy McIntyre is delighted with the progress being made by Celtic's u-17 and u-19 side's this season.

The former Aberdeen and Hibs defender is in his first season at Celtic and has the job of co-ordinating the professional end of the clubs Academy, overseeing the work being carried out by Miodrag Krivokapic at u-17 and Stevie Frail with the u-19 side.

Winning isn't the purpose of youth development but at those levels players are at that stage where the demands of winning in a Celtic jersey begin to count.

On Saturday Celtic face Rangers at u-19 level for the first time this season with the youth of both clubs bound to be judged on the events at Airdrie's Excelsior Stadium.

The Celtic side will be made up of players of various ages who have come through the ranks in Scotland and Ireland as well as more exotic destinations such as the Czech Republic, Sweden and Italy.

Amongst the substitutes for the u-19's against Kilmarnock last Saturday there was a Czech raised in Germany, Patrik Twardzik; Bahrudin Atajic,a Bosnian from Sweden and the rising star of underage football Islam Feruz who arrived in this country from Somali but who is now a Scotland schoolboy internationalist. All three players qualify for Celtic's u-17 side and were in the team that played Hamilton the following day

The term 'conveyor belt' has become cliched in football development circles presenting the idea that there is an endless supply of young talent available for the first team.

McIntyre rejects the idea of a conveyor belt and is happy to see young players bubbling up to the surface to take their chance to progress to the next level.

He said: "The term conveyor belt is used loosely, it suggests that there are players coming in all the time but it's a far too early for us to be saying that.

"Clubs maybe like the phrase but there will be peaks and troughs of talent coming in and out.

"There will be times when things get fallow and times when it's fruitful. We're not in the job very long, to talk about a conveyor belt you'd need to be talking about four or five years down the line.

"All that we can do is give the young players opportunity, there's a lot that they have to learn, a lot of pitfalls that await them but you hope that you can give them the correct environment to develop and hone their skills".

Anyone who has watched this season u-19 side will have been impressed by the ability of the players and the depth to the squad.

A group of 20 players have been involved in the season to date with the emphasis on moving forward, passing the ball on the ground and being creative.

Frail has generally gone with a 4-3-3 formation where the two wingers can switch flanks with half a dozen players capable of operating purposefully from midfield.

Developing the players ability is mixed with the need to win matches with last month's 5-4 win over Dundee United in the SFA Youth Cup illustrating the winning mentality perfectly.
James Forrest has virtually graduated through to Neil Lennon's development squad and has been an unused substitute on a number of occasions for the first team.

As Forrest and others such as Richie Towell, James Keatings and Declan Gallagher move towards the development squad it opens the doors for younger players to be promoted into the u-19 side.

McIntyre added: "We have a lot of our u-17's involved in the u-19 side and that's exciting, against Kilmarnock there were only three u-19 players, the rest are all available at that level again next season.

"All of the substitutes at Kilmarnock played for the u-17's against Hamilton. It's good for them to be involved and to be part of a winning team.

"We tell all the players that if they are good enough they will be given opportunities. 

"A lot of the u-19 squad are now involved with Lenny in the development squad, a few of them played against Shamrock Rovers and did well.

"That was a great experience for them, they were up against men in front of a good crowd will that will benefit them in the long run.

"Whatever age the players are if they are good enough they will be given opportunities.

"Richie Towell is a great example of that, he's impressing with the development squad but gives his all when he's with the 19's.

"Naturally he's wanting to progress, we support him and that's what the development of youth football is all about.

"When players get promoted it gives others an opportunity, when players move up a level and do well it gives us selection problems, that's a healthy state to be in.

"The younger players are putting pressure on the older one's- if you're good enough you are old enough as far as we're concerned."

McIntyre's Champions League ambition

Celtic's u-19 side travel to the far south-west on Sunday to face Threave Rovers with the Champions League the target for the players.

With the best young players in Scotland and a select few from overseas in the squad Celtic will be expected to win comfortably as they set out to regain the SFA Youth Cup.

Winning is an important part of youth football but it goes hand in hand with developing young players into first team material capable of playing at the highest level of the game.

Mixing development and success is the aim of the club with Tommy McIntyre overseeing the professional level of youth development helping to take schoolboys from the Academy environment into the cutting edge of the game.

McIntyre is hands-on at u-17 and u-19 level and is encouraged by the start that the u-19s have made to the season as he comes to terms with his first season involved with Celtic.
The former Aberdeen and Hibs defender said: “Ultimately our main priority is to develop players for the Champions League, that's a big challenge but an exciting one.

STRUCTURE
“We're delighted with the way that the season has been going for the u-19's. The management structure is new but we've assessed the squad and are looking to develop them individually but also as a team.
“In pre-season we were up against European opposition, we just missed out winning the Vilareal tournament but took a lot from that although we have to bear in mind that in Scotland the game is played differently.
“We know that the expectations are high at Celtic but our priority is to develop players as best we can.
“There was a bit of a lull recently in terms of results with the u-19s but we have been working a lot on movement in terms of breaking teams down and we've been getting the rewards in our last two matches.
“The boys have turned things around and have developed a ruthless streak, they've shown that in abundance against Motherwell and Hamilton who are both up challenging at the top of the league.
“Everyone involved is quietly pleased with the way things are developing.”
Celtic are unbeaten in eight league games this season with four wins and four draws so far.

FRAMEWORK
Having watched the last two matches the team is certainly developing with a good blend of exciting talented individuals working within a team framework that allows them to express themselves on the park.
In theory Greig Spence is a lone striker but James Forrest and James Keatings are both flexible and adaptable allowing them to switch flanks and also to come in and play close to Spence.
Eight goals in the last two games have illustrated the success of those tactics with a confidence emerging amongst the players from achieving results and getting rewarded for the work put in on the training ground.
So far James Forrest has came closest to first team involvement but working closely with Tony Mowbray McIntyre knows that the manager is keen to get the u-19 squad.

ENCOURAGEMENT
McIntyre added: "The manager gives us lots of encouragement and wants to see players pushing on and getting involved at a higher level.
"James Forrest has earned that right and has been training with the first team, he's also been a first team substitute against St Mirren and Rangers.
"That's the target and something that other players can be aiming towards. We've got as lot of talented players and they need to push themselves and be tested at a higher level.
"The season has been going well so far, ultimately our task is to develop players for the first team and that's the goal of everyone involved throughout the Academy structure."